


It Takes a Village

by UnoriginalToast



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Family, Gen, High School, Hurt/Comfort, No pairings - Freeform, Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-11-30 11:41:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11462865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnoriginalToast/pseuds/UnoriginalToast
Summary: When the Galra are found on Earth, the Paladins go home. While there, Pidge struggles with memories of her past, Shiro grapples with the leadership role that was forced upon him, and the other Paladins contemplate the sacrifices they’ve made for the ones they love on Earth.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this story popped into my head and I'm in the process of writing it down. The story will largely center around Pidge, but will deal with emotions and thoughts of all the Paladins. There will not be pairings in this work. Feel free to read however you would like, but know my intention is only platonic. Also, although a "high school" fic, this will be more serious than comedic. Other than that, enjoy!

Scientists have always said, the universe is more expansive and vast than any human could ever comprehend. Even if we suddenly gained the ability to go wherever we wanted, we simply would not be able to understand the nature of the universe. It is constantly expanding, destroying and recreating new solar systems, and stars, and planets, so even with all the time in the universe, no human could ever explore it all.

 

Well, Pidge thought, as she gazed out the window into the vast darkness of space, it may be impossible for a human to explore all of space, but she figured she was getting pretty close. She noted how the stars shined brightly against the void background of the universe, and she felt a strange sense of familiarity. She wondered briefly if they had driven by this corner of the universe, but knew that was impossible. Even if they were in the same general area, it would have changed so much by the time they came back, that it would hardly be considered the same. And besides, with trillions of stars in the universe, it was hard to really tell them apart. They were like snowflakes; up close, Pidge was sure they were all unique, but from far away they all looked the same.

 

She sighed and looked back at her laptop as it struggled to decode another piece of Garla technology. This was another triangular floating prism that reminded her almost painfully of Rover, whom she had lost in battle. The things could be programmed to take on a new master, and if done right, she would be able to take down other Garla tech when on a mission. It was almost ready, but the empire had beefed up security since the Paladins entered the war, so it was more difficult to crack.

 

Pidge glanced back out into space and pressed her cheek against the window as she leaned against the wall. It had been so cool to get to explore space and it’s amazingness, but the novelty wore off pretty quickly. The awe was replaced with a sense of anxiety, that Pidge had to find her father and brother somewhere in this ever expanding, changing universe. She vaguely remembered the old idiom, “finding a needle in a haystack.” But, though the analogy fit the idea of the situation, the gravity of it was laughably off the mark. A needle in a haystack, she could do, but this was more like trying to find a single strand of microscopic bacteria somewhere on earth. Not necessarily impossible, but pretty darn close.

 

Her laptop dinged suddenly, causing her to jump in surprise. “Oh, you’re done!” she mused to her computer as she began typing away, trying to override the program. With a few clacks of her keyboard, she was into the mainframe of the robot and began the tedious, but not difficult task of reworking the coding.

 

She was about halfway through when Keith approached, though she was so lost in her work she didn’t hear him at first. Keith, knowing how absorbed she got in her work, could tell she hadn’t heard him, and lingered in the doorway briefly as he tried to figure out a way to let her know he was there without startling her.

 

Unfortunately, he couldn’t come up with anything before Lance came crashing into the room shouting, “Pidge! Team meeting in the, uh… Living room place I guess?” Pidge jumped up and turned around to the two boys as Lance came skidding to a stop about a foot away from Keith.

 

“Gee, thanks for the heart attack with the message, Lance!” Pidge said, half sarcastically and half angrily. “I’m working with very delicate coding! I could have messed something up!”

 

Lance paused for a moment, feeling genuinely bad for a split second. “Hey, man I’m sorry,” he said honestly and then burst into a wide grin. “But I know you’re so super smart that you’d never mess up!” Pidge’s ego was inflated enough to wipe away her anger and she blushed lightly and smiled, flattered by the complement. As she turned back to her computer, she didn’t see Keith roll his eyes.

 

“Well, thanks Lance. You’re right, it’s still good,” Pidge said as she saved her work and closed her laptop. She turned back to the two boys. “Alright, I guess let’s go? Any idea what the meeting is about?”

 

“Not sure,” Keith replied as they made their way to the room with the large, almost circular couch. “But I thought I heard Allura and Coran talking about some sort of new Garla operation that was just set up on a planet.”

 

“Aww man!” Lance pouted. “I was hoping we were going to take a field trip back to that mall! Or back to the mermaid planet! Or to a planet filled with girls! Oh! Or maybe there’s a parade for us! Or--” Tired of his rambling, Keith lightly, though still forcefully, punched Lance in the shoulder.

 

“What was that for?!” Lance shouted.

 

“For being stupid, now come on!” Keith retorted. An argument ensued and Pidge noted that, in the time it took to walk down three hallways, the argument transitioned from being hit, to stealing a pillow, to eating the last edible cookie that Hunk made out of the space goo, and then ended with how there was not a being in the universe who would ever go out with either of them for various reasons. She sighed as she took a relaxed seat on the couch next to Hunk. She was sure of one thing: there wasn’t anyone else in the entire universe like those two. But, they were her friends, and though she would often complain about how annoying they were, she wouldn’t change them for the world.

 

“Do we have everyone?” Shiro asked as he stood before the four other Paladins and the two Alteans. Allura’s mice friends were also off in a corner, so the only somewhat sentient beings on the ship that were not there were the Lions of Voltron, and for good reason, as they probably would not fit in the room.

 

Shiro looked like a natural leader, Pidge noted as he launched into a brief analysis of their last mission. He was strong, effective, and direct. He rarely got angry with his team, and constantly pushed each of them to reach their full potential. It was amazing, she thought, that Shiro had suddenly been launched into the role of team leader. She wondered if he was like that when on missions with her father and brother. Perhaps her father saw leadership in him. But she knew that, regardless of who Shiro was before they found the Lions, he was the best leader for the team. Everyone else was young and inexperienced, and Allura and Coran had so many other issues to deal with. So, when it came to corralling the Paladins, Shiro was the best for the job.

 

“... and Pidge, how’s the programing going?” Shiro asked as Pidge snapped back to reality.

 

“Oh, good,” she said with a smile and a thumbs up. “I should have it up and running by today. Rover 2.0 will be good to go in no time!”

 

“Good, so we’re on the right track.” Shiro said and glanced over at Allura who was standing. “We’ll need all the help we can get. Allura has a mission for us.”

 

Allura nodded. “We have received word that the Galra are setting up base on another planet.” she said. Pausing, she turned her focus internally and used her power to bring up a room-sized map of the universe. She pointed to what seemed like a random blip on the map. “This is where we are. And this…” she traced her finger along the map and pointed to another random blip. “Is where we believe the Galra are. They are just beginning to infiltrate that area of the universe, so we’ll need to take them down completely. It’s a corner of space that the Galra do not have a hold on yet and we would like to keep it that way.”

 

Shiro nodded. “This isn’t going to be an easy mission. Who knows how many troops they’ll have there by the time we get to them? And the last thing we want is to allow them the opportunity to call Zarkon and the rest of the Galra Empire. So we’ll need to be quiet, but effective.”

 

“Yes, we’ll likely be there a while,” Allura continued. “We have to be very careful and deliberate. This is a rather… primitive planet from what I’ve heard. Not much technology and its inhabitants tend to get confused very easily.”

 

“So, you’re saying we get to go all under cover?” Lance asked, sitting up straighter with excitement. “This will be so cool! We can all have code names, like on TV!”

 

“Can we not be like on TV?” Hunk asked worriedly. “They usually get caught, it’s like a plot device!”

 

“That’s not true!” Lance retorted. “On Code Agent Ralph they never get caught and they always get the bad guys!”

 

“Alright, enough of that,” Shiro sighed, holding up his hand. “Yes, we’ll likely be under cover, no it won’t be like on TV and no, we won’t get caught. Forget about movies, alright guys? We need to focus, this is important.”

 

The Paladins nodded, though Hunk didn’t look less worried nor did Lance seem less excited. Pidge and Keith were rather indifferent and just wanted to get a few steps closer to defeating Zarkon for good.

 

“Yes, very important,” Allura reiterated. “Now go and make sure you’re ready. I’ll be sending us through a wormhole in one dobash.”

 

The team stood to leave, and Pidge went back to reprogramming the rover. She wondered for a moment what kind of planet they would be going to, but figured it didn’t matter. There were so many planets in the universe and they had already been to so many, that it was hard to keep track of them all. The important thing was getting there, doing what needed to be done, and hopefully getting closer to winning this war.

 

“And then I can find my family,” Pidge murmured to herself. She paused and pulled out that old picture of her with her brother. It was tattered now, and bent and smudged, but she kept it with her so she would never forget what she was fighting for. Keith was right, everyone had families, but hers was important to her and she would stop at nothing to make sure they were safe.

 

She glanced up at the window and looked back at her reflection. She barely recognized the girl from the picture. She was so different, so changed. Her hair was short and poofy now that she didn’t straighten it everyday. Her contacts were swapped out for glasses, and her dress for the oversized sweatshirt and shorts. But that girl with the pretty dress and the long hair was Pidge, and the girl with the short hair and casual clothes was also Pidge. Well, the girl with the dress was Katie, but Katie was Pidge.

 

“Man, it’s like going through middle school all over again!” Pidge said to herself. “Trying to figure out who I am, when I thought I already had it down.” She sighed and put her picture away so she could return to her program. As she worked, she wondered briefly if she missed her old life. Of course, she missed her father and brother, but she had also grown so much over the past year. Of course, when she was Katie Holt, she loved technology and programming, but she had other interests too. She was also severely missing just being a kid.

 

“Paladins, please report to the main control deck,” Allura’s voice came booming over the intercom, breaking Pidge of her thoughts. “We are preparing to make the jump.”

 

Sighing, Pidge stood and saved her work. “Still not done. Damn.” she whispered as she put the computer into sleep mode and hurried to the deck with the rest of her friends.

 

Within minutes, everyone was seated and ready to go as Allura spent some of her energy to open a wormhole which would take them to the solar system of the planet they were going to.

 

“All systems are go!” Coran shouted over to his princess and Allura nodded, a blue light shining around her. The wormhole opened in front of them and in the blink of an eye, they were in a new spot in space.

 

Pidge looked around and frowned. This looked so familiar. She furrowed her brows because she couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew exactly where they were, which was weird, since she knew that was nearly impossible.

 

It seemed that the other Paladins noticed something was strange as well, because Lance stood and looked over at Allura. “Hey, Allura?” he asked. “What was that planet called that we’re going to?”

 

The princess thought for a moment as she leaned against her control board. “Oh, I know this,” she mused. “It’s, uh… Oh! Right, we’re at a planet called ‘Earth.’”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins set course for Earth; Pidge and Lance bond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't usually update this quickly (for reals haha), but to thank everyone who read and also because I'm insanely bored at work and have quite a few chapters written, here's the next one. I think these two chapters could have gone together, though I wanted that cliff hanger at the end of 1. So, here's the second chapter that I think should be read together with the 1st. After this updates will likely be weekly, as with my Pellinor fic, Fighter.

The Paladins were all up out of their chairs, everyone except Shiro shouting so loudly, it was hard to hear anyone's individual voice. Lance was the first to manage to be heard, only because his voice was the loudest and managed to carry the furthest.

"Wait you knew we were going to  _Earth_  and you didn't think to tell us?!" He shrieked, his voice nearly breaking. "We're  _from_  Earth! You  _know_  we're from Earth!"

"I didn't put it together!" Allura shouted back. "There's billions of planets and star systems in the universe, you really expect me to remember the  _one_  that you all happen to be from?!"

"Uh,  _yeah_! We know where you're from!" Lance retorted.

"Well, of course, the Alteans are the pinnacle of high level society!" Coran interjected, to which Keith and Lance began shouting at him.

"We're getting there, okay?!" Pidge added. "It doesn't help that you guys think we're so 'primitive' and 'confused!'"

"Well, comparatively, you know there's a lot of improvements that need to be made!" Coran retorted.

"The Earth and humans are perfect and independent and don't need no aliens!" Lance responded, crossing his arms and stomping his foot for effect.

"Wait does this mean we can get to a grocery store?" Hunk called out as he glanced between his shouting friends.

Shiro, who had been shouting "guys!" for a while, finally decided enough was enough and that the fighting had to stop. "Hey!" He called, his voice managing to rise above the rest of the shouting as it boomed around the deck. Everyone stopped short and looked back at him. Lance was close and pointing at Allura and Coran, while Keith tried to hold him back. Pidge was staring blankly into outer space, and Hunk was writing down a grocery list. They all turned and stared at Shiro, who rubbed his head to ease the ache he received from all the yelling.

"It doesn't matter now," he said sternly. "If Earth is where the Galra are, then that's where we're going. No, Allura doesn't have to remember every single planet out there. Yes, it's possible she forgot where we're from after an entire year of being in space. And yes, we can probably get to a grocery store at some point." He let out a long breath. "Okay? Okay. Allura, where exactly on Earth are we going?"

Allura stared for a moment more before straightening up and turning to her screen. She pulled up an image of earth and zoomed in on the North American continent. "Right about here," she said, pointing. Lance followed her finger with his eyes and gasped.

"Hey, that's Arizona. I think. Wait…" He paused in thought, his geography skills failing.

"No, that's Arizona." Pidge, who had walked over, said. "Good job, Lance, you're almost okay at geography." She smirked as Allura zoomed in further.

"So how are we going to park this thing?" Hunk asked. "I mean, it's sorta a huge gigantic ship. Not like it's going to go unnoticed."

"Well, we'll use the cloaking device as we get in closer," Coran suggested. "But we can't keep it up forever."

"We can park in the middle of the desert," Keith suggested. "It's huge and less patrolled than you'd think. I mean, the Blue Lion was hidden there and no one knew. If we can find a place to hide, we'll be just fine."

Pidge, meanwhile was staring intently at the screen. "If we're going to Arizona, I wonder if they're near the Garrison." She commented, her hand cupping her chin. "Look, that blue dot is right about where I'd expect the Garrison to be."

"I was told where to look first," Allura said. "And I don't recall 'Garrison' being it. It was something called a 'school.'"

"A school?" Keith asked. "What would the Galra want with some school? What, are they going the child soldier route?"

"No, not to our knowledge," Allura said, pulling up a correspondence with her source that was written in a language no one but she and Coran could read. "Let's see… Ah yes. So, the Galra are on planet Earth and have begun setting up a base there. They're using a place called a 'school,' where high class humans send their young for study. There's two schools in particular, Wood County Boy's School, and Easton Girl's School of Science and Technology." Allura paused in thought. "Humans are so strange, separating younglings by gender."

Lance shrugged. "It's a rich person thing, I guess. I'd hate to go to al all boy's school! Besides, the ladies deserve a look at The Lance!"

"Trust me, no one deserves that," Keith replied with a friendly smirk.

"And hey schools aren't just for the high class!" Hunk said. "We all went to school. Those schools probably cost a ton of money, though!"

"And that's probably why they've set up base there," Shiro said and Allura looked at him with furrowed brows. "On Earth, the people with the most money usually have the most control," he explained to the alien. "So, if the Galra don't want to expend much energy capturing a planet, or don't want to deal with the regular military at the Garrison, they just have to cozy up with the people who make decisions. To do that, they're going through their kids, who go to expensive schools. I wouldn't be surprised if some military or space leader's kids went to one of those schools. Or even the governor's."

"You know, you'd think big purple aliens like the Galra would stick out like a sore thumb," Hunk said with a side glance at Keith. "Uh, no offense."

"Probably have some sort of disguise," Coran said. "Either that or they have someone on the inside doing their work for them."

Shiro looked down in thought before looking over at the youngest Paladin, who looked absolutely stricken. Pidge's eyes were wide and her mouth was parted open. This wasn't like her, Shiro noted. She was usually pretty calm and collected, but maybe the shock of returning to Earth was getting to her. To his right, Lance was going on about seeing his family and making pit stops to his friends.

"Pidge?" Shiro asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?" Pidge seemed to snap out of whatever trance she had gone into and looked up at Shiro. She threw a smile on her face and nodded.

"Oh yeah, just thinking," she said quickly. "It's been awhile since we've gone to Earth, you know, feels like we're so far away." She then followed up with a nervous laugh and Shiro knew she was hiding something, but decided not to press.

"Yes, well, we're going to need to set up a plan of action." Shiro said, turning his attention to the rest of his team. "Allura, we're sure the Galra have contacts in those schools?" The woman nodded. "Alright, we'll have to split up. Hunk, Lance and Keith, you'll go to the boy's school. Allura, you head to the girl's school. I'll stick out like a sore thumb in a school full of teenagers, so I'll do some scoping, and Pidge will work tech back at base with Coran. Sound good?"

Most of the team nodded, but Keith looked skeptical. "Speaking of sticking out like a sore thumb," he said and glanced at Allura, "Have  _you_  ever met a human teenage girl with long natural white hair? Not to mention, Allura doesn't really scream 'high school student,' you know?"

Shiro nodded. "You're right. Well, none of us are getting into the girl's school except Pidge and Allura, unless someone wants to try a disguise. What if we pulled Hunk and had him with Coran and sent Pidge instead?"

"Woah wait, what?" Pidge looked surprised and physically jumped back. "No, I couldn't! I'm not good at going under… uh." She stopped, realizing how ridiculous that sounded, since she had already fooled the top commanders at the Garrison into thinking she was a boy.

"No, you'll be great!" Lance smiled. "You're already the best at going undercover, and you won't have to learn how to act like a girl since, well… You know." He laughed and slapped his teammate on the back, who didn't look at all convinced. Instead she signed, knowing that sending her was their best bet anyway.

"Then it's settled," Shiro said as he sat back down at his control space. "Let's get ready for a landing. Don't forget to put the cloaking on. We wouldn't want to set off any satellites or detectors."

Within an hour, the ship was docked and disguised in the middle of the Arizona desert. Everyone got settled and then went to bed, since it was late on Earth and school would start the next day. Once landed and connected to wifi, Pidge was able to hack into the school's network and create schedules for her and Keith and Lance.

When she was done and back in her room, she lay back on her bed, completely unable to sleep. She pondered going back to her mom, though she worried she would try to stop her from continuing her quest. Then again, being so close to her mother again, at least closer than she'd been in over a year, made her feel more guilty than ever. Pidge lost her father and brother, and then ran off with new friends on a quest to save the universe. Her mother had lost everything.

She closed her eyes, the memories of the night she told her mother of her plans swimming into her mind.

" _I'm going, Mom! You can't stop me! I'll join the Garrison and figure out what happened to Dad and Matt!"_

" _Katie, please. Just let it go. Haven't we opened this wound enough times?"_

" _I know there wasn't pilot error. It's a lie, do you really believe it? Dad and Matt are the best pilots anyone has ever met. Something happened to them, I know it."_

" _You don't think I know it too? You think I believe for a second that your father and brother were caught off guard? In the twenty five years I've known your dad, he's never been caught off guard, not once! But this is crazy, Katie! Please!"_

" _I don't care if it's crazy. And even if there's nothing to be found, I can learn to be as good a pilot as Dad and Matt were… are. Please, Mom? I'd be begging to go to the Galaxy Garrison next year anyway."_

_Her mother let out a shaky sigh and no one said anything for a long time. Finally, the woman opened a drawer in the kitchen and handed a pair of scissors over to her daughter._

" _I'm going to miss that beautiful long hair of yours," she said and kissed Katie on the forehead._

" _Me too. But I miss Dad and Matt more."_

When Pidge opened her eyes, tears fell and quickly streamed down her cheeks and onto her neck. Of course her mother knew she enrolled in the Garrison, but she never got the chance to tell her about Voltron. She knew she was just another face next to Lance and Hunk on a missing person poster.

A knock on her door startled her and she quickly wiped face with her sleeve, hoping whoever was there wouldn't notice she had been crying. She opened the door to find Lance smiling sheepishly back at her.

"Uh… what are you doing?" Pidge asked awkwardly as Lance barged into her room and sat down on the bed. "Oh yes, of course. No no, don't wait outside,  _please_. Sit down." Pidge rolled her eyes and sat next to her friend.

"Are you going to see your mom?" Lance asked and Pidge shrugged her shoulders as nonchalantly as she could, trying to make him believe the thought had never crossed her mind.

"I 'unno." she said after a pause, a little surprised by the sudden question. "Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on what needs to be done. The most important thing is preventing the Galra from taking over."

"Yeah. I'm just… uh, worried I guess, you know?" Lance said and leaned back against her wall. "I want to take the chance to go see them. I mean, I  _will_  see them whether Shiro and Allura likes it or not. I'm not leaving without visiting. But then again, I also don't want to. Like, I up and disappear for a whole year on my parents and then show up at their door? I'm scared they won't understand, or be mad, or try to keep me there." He then paused and looked back at Pidge. "I'm worried I won't want to leave."

"You probably won't." Pidge said after a long pause. Why wasn't Lance talking to Shiro about this? She didn't think she was any good at giving advice! "What I mean is that, you won't want to leave, but you will, because you know the Universe is really important. And if the Universe goes down, everyone goes down with it."

Lance nodded. "That's one way of looking at it." He said. He then paused and furrowed his brows at his friend. "You do miss your mom, though, right?"

"What? Of course I do!"

"Sorry, sorry! You just never talk about her," the boy replied, holding his hands up in surrender. "You talk about your dad and your brother, but you don't talk about your mom much." This gave Pidge pause because he was absolutely right. She didn't talk about her mom much.

"I guess she just… never came up. But I miss her." Pidge shrugged again. "I guess I just feel… worried too, you know? And guilty. I left her after she lost her husband and son. Now she lost me too. And I worry she won't let me go back if I see her, or that I won't want to leave. I'm not very strong. I almost up and left that time. I was going to do it too." She looked down, breaking eye contact with Lance who placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, you're the tech geek," he said, his smile showing that he meant it in the best way. "You're one of the most important parts of this team! Think of everything we couldn't do without you. And you think I never thought about bailing? You're just the one who voiced it. And you didn't leave. That's what matters."

"Thanks Lance," Pidge said and looked back at her friend. She was so happy to hear those kind words, especially from Lance who was often brash and abrasive. But, he was a good friend and always had been, even when they were the worst squad at the Garrison. "Maybe I will go see her."

"Question, is this why you didn't want to go undercover again? Because of what happened last time?" Lance asked. Pidge hesitated, but let out a sigh.

"No, it's…" She struggled to find the words. "I just didn't want to go back to school."

"Hey, being the techy is tough! But when I was in highschool, I never picked on the geeks!" Lance laughed. Pidge shook her head again.

"No, it's… Well I'm just going to say it." Pidge looked over at Lance earnestly. "I didn't want to go undercover at the girls school because I've been to a girl's school. What I mean is I've been to  _that_  girl's school. I used to go to Easton." She let out another breath and felt much better with those words said out loud. Lance was staring at her as though she had grown a second head.

"Man, feels good to get that off my chest," Pidge said awkwardly with a nervous laugh when Lance continued to stare in shock. "Haha, okay Lance, thanks for the chat. Probably should get to bed…"

"You…  _What?!"_


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge, Lance, and Keith begin their first day of school. Pidge meets old friends, Lance and Keith make new ones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the bookmarks and kudos for this work! It means a lot to me! Much of the next chapters from here on our will follow certain head cannons I have about Pidge's life before Voltron. I think I explain my reasoning rather well, so if you come to a place and think "where the hell did she get that?" please just bare with me and let me explain! I'll also be introducing OCs, but they're mainly to drive the plot. And final note, there's no romance or explicit gore, but I rated this T for language, just fyi.
> 
> Again, thanks and enjoy!

"What, is it really that hard to believe that the daughter of an acclaimed scientist went to a private all girls school? Wait, you do know I'm a girl, right?" Pidge tried to sneak a little bit of humor into her phrasing, but Lance was so shocked at the revelation, he just continued to stare at her. She sighed. "Lance, come on. I had a life before the Garrison."

"Yeah but, damn, Pidge!" Lance finally said, and looked at her as though he was seeing her for the first time. "That's a seriously good school! And seriously expensive. How loaded are you?"

Pidge smacked him on the arm. "That's a rude question. What? I just went there. No biggie. It's a coincidence. Though, it does seem a little too strange. Maybe they're in the area because of my dad and Matt..." She shook her head. No, if she spent too much time trying to connect this to her family, she would lose her focus.

"Well, what are you going to do then? You know, since they'll probably recognize you. Are you going to go in a disguise?"

Pidge pondered the questions for a moment. As annoyed as she was that Lance just could not believe she had a life before Voltron, she was thankful for the questions. She hadn't even thought about what she was going to do. "I guess I'll just be me again." she finally decided. "I'll just say I needed time away."

"You're going to see your friends again."

"I am. Huh. It's weird, it doesn't feel like I am. It just feels like another mission." Her mouth formed a thin line. "Well, it is just another mission. I'm not going to worry about old friends or my mom until the Galra threat is gone. Then I'll worry about all that."

Lance nodded. "Probably a good idea. Hey, if you went to that girl's school, did your brother go to the boy's?"

"Yeah, for a bit, but then he transferred to the Garrison." Pidge replied. "I was going to try to get my parents to let me in the next year. But the schools are connected. They're basically two sides of the same coin, even though they have different names."

"So, that means you gotta know the kids there, right?" Lance questioned, ignoring the second part of her response. "Like, are the girls hot? Are the dudes cool? But most importantly, are the girls hot?"

Pidge rolled her eyes. "Don't worry Lance, you'll fit right in." She said patting his shoulder in a mocking way. "Now, get out of my room. We'll both need sleep. First day of school and all."

* * *

The Paladins all skipped breakfast that day, determined to fill themselves up on delicious, Earth food. Even the simplest granola bar would be a feast for a king to the kids who, although they appreciated the different cuisines of different aliens, missed the food they had grown up with.

Before leaving the castle, Pidge was able to connect her laptop to the real, live, actual human-created internet, something she missed in space. Although other alien races had tons of technology and communication devices, she missed the good ol' internet. Well, most of the internet, anyway. She showed Allura and Coran the uniforms she, Keith, and Lance would need and, using a disguising device on their clothes, they were soon dressed and ready to go.

Keith sported a solid red polo, while Lance was in blue and both boys wore khakis with simple white sneakers. The uniform for the boy's school was either a red or blue polo with long khaki pants and sensible shoes and a belt. Keith tucked his shirt in, as Pidge directed him was school rules, but Lance folded the ends of his shirt so that it only appeared it was tucked in.

"You do realize it does not look at all like you've tucked your shirt in, right?" Pidge asked, her eyebrow raised. "And what's even the point?"

"Screw the rules, I have money, apparently!" Lance simply responded and Pidge let out an exasperated sigh.

"If you get detention, we're not bailing you out," Pidge said as she walked to her own room to change.

She closed the door and looked at the familiar clothes in her hands. A white blouse and a blue and white plaid skirt, with black dress shoes. So basic. So annoying when Pidge was younger. Yet, so welcome and needed. She swapped out her baggy boy clothes for the chic, school girl uniform of her past and stared back in the mirror at Katie Holt. Well, almost. She took her glasses off and, for the first time in a long time, she put her contacts in.

"Hello, Katie." She said to herself as she stared into the mirror for a long time. She looked so much like… herself without her glasses. Why did she insist on wearing them anyway? Her contacts were more useful anyway, since she didn't have to worry about losing her glasses or not being able to see out of the corners of her eyes. But, she realized, with the glasses, she looked just like her brother Matt. As she should, since they were his glasses that she snagged from his room. Their prescriptions were close enough, she had figured.

"Come on, Pidge, we're gonna be late!" Lance's voice broke her of her thoughts and she grabbed her backpack. She hopped out the door as she tugged on her shoes and ran down the hall what was the "front door" of the castle.

"Alright, I'm ready!" Pidge said as she approached her team. "Uh… is everything okay?" They were all staring at her, the same way Lance stared when he found out she was a girl, and when he learned she had gone to Easton. Hunk, Lance, and Coran were not hiding their surprise at all, while Keith and Shiro tried and failed to hide it. Allura looked absolutely smitten.

"Pidge, you look-" Allura started.

"Holy shit, you're a girl!" Lance shouted, cutting her off. Pidge made a face at him, somewhere between bemused and sick of his shit.

"Uh yeah. Breaking news. Whoo hoo…" Pidge deadpanned, whirling her right pointer finger in circles. "It's a uniform, guys. It doesn't even look that great. My skirt's down past my knees and the sleeves are way too big."

"It's just that you look different," Shiro said, ever the level head amidst the chaos. "And you look good, but you're still our Pidge." Pidge smiled widely at him, appreciating the complement, but moreso thankful that nothing had changed. She hated to think that because she was the only girl Paladin, she was somehow different than the rest. Unfortunately, the uniforms didn't help as they starkly highlighted the differences between her and the rest of the crew.

"Alright now, well off with you!" Coran said as he herded Keith, Lance, and Pidge out the door. "Have a good day at human study and make lots of friends and all that."

"We will!" Lance called as they left. Shiro would drive them to school in an escape pod they disguised as a car. They waved goodbye to their teammates and piled in. In all the excitement, it was hard not to forget the real reason why they were back on Earth. But, even if just for a moment, Pidge wanted to pretend she really was going back to school. They stepped into the familiar Arizona air and Pidge took a deep breath of what to her was home. The sights, the smells, the feeling of sand getting into her shoes. It was all familiar. It was Earth.

The ride to school was relatively silent, but halfway through, Shiro felt the need to remind the Paladins about the mission.

"Remember, no telling anyone why you're here," he was saying. "You're transfer students, got it? You're from upstate." Pidge hadn't told anyone else that she was going back to the school she had gone to what seemed like forever ago. And, she noted thankfully, Lance hadn't told anyone either. Although a goofball, he was a true friend, and Pidge appreciated that.

"Got it," Keith said.

"And be good. No horsing around. Right, Lance?"

"What, why are you telling me that? Why don't you tell Keith that? This is discrimination!"

"... right. Anyway, no horsing around,  _Lance_ ," Shiro continued. "And don't harass any girls, okay? Or boys. Just don't harass people. Lay low. Just be normal." Shiro paused as he looked back at the three Paladins. "Well, as normal as you can be."

He continued about rules, and how he better not get a call about any of them, since they had more important things to worry about. He also slipped in a comment about getting good grades. You know, for the cover. But, Pidge was lost in thought as they drove down familiar streets. She recognized everything. It was as though she had never left.

Soon, the tall building that was her old high school came into view and she looked up in awe.  _Easton Girl's School of Science and Technology_  read the lettering on the front. It must have been repainted, Pidge noted, because she vividly remembered it was fading before. She felt like she was falling back in time, and if she closed her eyes she could pretend that she was riding with her brother, who was dropping her off at school before going to his own classes. But, when she opened her eyes, it was just the Paladins sans Hunk. Not that she didn't love her team, but she missed her brother terribly.

Shiro pulled up to the drop off and stopped. "Alright, Pidge. I'll be back to pick you up later. Remember, figure out what the Garla want. You've got your com devise, use it if you see anything strange."

"Got it," Pidge smiled and hopped out of the car. The guys sped off, which left her alone for what felt like the first time. She had never gone on a mission all by herself, at least not without constant and direct contact with the rest of the team. But here she was, back at a familiar place and yet, feeling lost altogether.

The bell rang and Pidge slung her backpack across her shoulder. She followed the group of girls into the school, keeping her head down as she tried to avoid being noticed. It was rather silly, truth be told. She was the new kid, and would stick out soon enough. She clutched the schedule she made for herself and walked to the locker she had given herself. Girls were talking amicably in the hall, but she generally tried to ignore the conversation. This was a mission, after all.

"Oh my god!" she heard someone say and she felt her cheeks heat up. No, no one could have noticed her. Not so soon.

"Is that…?"

Pidge closed her locker and started to briskly walk to the science lab.

"I think it is… Hey!"

She was almost running when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She was spun around and came face to face with a dark skinned with with long, kinky black hair. The other girl's eyes widened in shock, but her mouth turned upwards into a wild grin.

"Oh. My. God! Katie! Oh my god, Allie, Tiff, it's Katie!" Two other girls turned around, one with short blonde hair and a tall build and the other with long brown hair and blue eyes. Their eyes were wide with shock as they spotted Pidge and they ran over.

Pidge was frozen as well. It was as though she had lost all social ability in the past year. She forced a smile, though it wasn't entirely forced since she  _was_  happy to see her old friends. But she was scared about their reactions, and also worried about the mission she had to focus on.

"Oh, uh, Leah! Wow it's been so long!" Pidge finally managed to reply, her voice automatically hitting a much higher register than she was used to. She surprised herself, as though the voice that came out of her was not her own. But the other girls didn't see anything wrong or strange. They were thrilled to have their friend back.

As they walked to the science lab, they asked Pidge all sorts of questions, which she tried to come up with plausible answers for. She didn't want to blow her cover. Thankfully, her old friends were so wrapped up in telling her everything she had missed for the past year and half, they didn't even notice that Pidge was barely talking about herself anymore. But every time they called her Katie, she felt a sting of regret. Regret for leaving them without saying anything. Regret for leaving again in the future. And regret for the life she would never lead.

* * *

And so, Pidge slipped back into school the way one slips into a bed at the end of a long day. It was a welcome break for her, and she quickly fell back into banter with her old friends. The classes weren't hard, even after a year of no formal schooling, but then again they had never been hard when she was regularly in school. Well, English and Art were something a little different, but Pidge loaded her schedule with science and robotics classes, and spent her first day enjoying the busy work.

Lance, on the other hand, slipped into school like he was slipping on ice. Constantly. And then falling through the cracks. The classes were hard, the other boys paid no attention to the new kids, and the teachers were mean and strict. He'd frankly rather spend his entire day fighting Zarkon til he dropped rather than do one more math quiz.

"What kind of math even was that?!" Lance asked as he slammed his locker shut and turned to Keith who simply shrugged. Keith was no fan of the classes either, but he also wasn't going to loudly complain. "I mean, what the flying fuck!" the other boy continued. "I thought Pidge put us in easy classes! This is insane!"

"Lance, we went to a very specialized school and then left school altogether for the past year," Keith answered, trying to be diplomatic. "Plus, this is an elite private school. Even the easy classes are bound to be difficult."

Lance pouted. "You didn't get that math quiz at all, did you?" He asked knowingly.

"Not one bit." Keith replied dryly as he pulled out his schedule. For better or worse, Pidge had arranged their schedules to be exactly the same. At least they didn't have to worry about losing each other, but then again Keith was stuck with Lance one on one for eight hours a day. "Well at least we got gym now."

"Ready to kick some rich boy ass?" Lance asked as he picked up his backpack and shot a smirk to his teammate. Keith raised an eyebrow. "Hey, the only thing we probably have a leg up in is gym class! We might as well use it."

The boy in red smiled back. "Yeah. Let's go kick rich boy ass."

The two soon learned that all their adventures in zero gravity, and all the fights they had been in really prepared them for high school level gym class. The boys played basketball, and Keith and Lance dominated. In fact, they did so well that they had to be placed on separate teams, which was great for returning a fair balance to the game, but not so great for their egos. For the rest of the period, it was largely Lance and Keith battling it out on the court, with the other teammates assisting or passing them the ball. But no one was angry at the lack of play time-they were to busy being stunned by the new kids.

When the bell rang and everyone filed into the locker rooms, Lance and Keith were instantly surrounded by their classmates.

"Where did you learn to play like that?"

"You have to join the basketball team!"

"And the soccer team too! I bet you guys would be great at that!"

"No, we need them for football. Did you see how they avoided each other?"

Lance and Keith fielded questions as best they could, and tried their best to convince everyone that they just really, really liked basketball. As hard as it was, they also refrained from accepting any invitations to try out for anything, much to the dismay and protest of the other boys.

"Remember when Shiro told us to lay low and not draw attention to ourselves?" Keith asked when he and Lance finally escaped the locker room and were walking to their next class.

"Uh-huh." Lance nodded.

"Yeah, we fucked that up."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge gains important information about a strange new school staff member, and more of her past is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the reviews, faves, comments, follows, kudos, and all that other stuff both on here and on FF.net! I'm really enjoying writing this and love all the comments and feedback I've gotten. This chapter is short, but sets up the coming chapters. Also, again, bare with me on the head cannons. As always, enjoy and leave a comment if you can!

“So then, John told Michelle, who told Amber, who told Mikey, who passed a note to Alex, who told  _ me _ that Brian thinks I’m cute. It was really sweet. You know, love at first, uh, rumor or whatever! But we’re totally going to go to prom together and then go to college together and get married. Well, I think so. He wants to go to the Galaxy Garrison, which, like I get, but ugh. That totally messes with my plans!”

 

Pidge found herself smiling and nodding along with whatever Leah was going on about. The sort of conversation they were having with their rest of their old lunch crew was very familiar. In the past, Pidge thought she craved some mindless babble about boys or shoes or whatever, like back in the old days. But she realized that was just nostalgia, and she was bored out of her skull. How can anyone care who thinks who is cute, when there’s an alien race trying to take over the entire universe?! But then again, there were only seven beings on the entire planet right now who knew about Zarkon, and she was one of them. It was strange, though. She was the same age as all of these girls, in fact, a little younger than some, but she felt infinitely older. It was like she had grown and matured twice as fast mentally.

 

“Hey, Katie, you with us?” Allie asked with a frown as she glanced over at her friend. Pidge jolted up and gave a thin smile. She knew it looked fake, but it was the best she could do.

 

“Oh yeah, just fine. Um, how’s the robotics team doing?” Yeah, robotics. That was normal, right?

 

Tiffany shrugged her shoulders and then gasped in realization. “Oh yeah, you wanted to join that right? Before you left?  _ God _ , Katie you’re such a brain! You always were, guess you haven’t changed much.” 

 

“Oh yeah, have you worked on any inventions in the past year?” Leah asked, though she seemed to broach the question with sensitivity. Pidge figured it was because, back when life was normal, she enjoyed technology and robotics because her dad and brother did. But, while they wanted to design space ships and do more piloting, Pidge was more interested in gadgets and small tech that would make a big difference.

 

“Oh yeah, I uh actually have been working on some robots,” she said. It wasn’t  _ exactly _ a lie. “Just some tinkering and stuff.”

 

“That’s so cool!” Allie gushed. “You should join the robotics team for real then,” she said. “You’re so smart, you’d blow them out of the water!”

 

“Thanks guys, but I think I’m just going to lay low,” Pidge replied, brushing off the compliment. As much as she would have jumped at the chance in her past life, the Pidge in this life had a mission. Speaking of… “Hey, quick question,” Pidge started. “I, uh, haven’t really been around for a while, you know. So, what’s new? Any new teachers or students or weird things going on?” The last part slipped out before she could stop herself, but her friends didn’t seem to notice.

 

“Uhm….” Leah thought for a minute. “Well, I got a text last period that there’s two new kids at the boy’s school. Apparently they’re insanely good at basketball.” Oh boy, so much for laying low, Pidge thought knowing instantly who she was talking about, but she tried to feign surprise. 

 

“Oh, wow cool. Uh, anything from, like, before today?”

 

“We got some new teachers,” Allie chimed in. “Um, Mrs. Ellis, Mr. Hardy… We have a new Vice Principal, Mr. Mulrig.”

 

Pidge furrowed her brows. “What happened to Vice Principal Hoctor?”

 

“That’s the weird thing,” Tiffany shrugged. “No one knows. He just disappeared and then Mr. Mulrig showed up and said that Mr. Hoctor was gone and he would be his replacement.” 

 

Now  _ that _ was something she could work with. Pidge asked her friends more questions about Mr. Hoctor’s disappearance and who Mr. Mulrig was. She tried to write it off as innocent curiosity, and had to stop after a bit for fear the other girls would get suspicious. But, she did learn that Mr. Hoctor had disappeared at the beginning of the school year, a few months before, and Mulrig came immediately after. The girls even noted that it felt like one day, Mr. Hoctor was there, and the next he was gone and replaced. But, it was the beginning of the school year and Homecoming was around the corner, so everything got glanced over.

 

Pidge also learned that Mulrig was strict, like many teachers at the elite school, but rather than pushing the girls to do their best, he had a harsh tone about him and was quick to call in their parents. 

 

“He caught me in the hall after the bell,” Tiffany explained. “I was fixing my makeup at my locker and lost track of time. Instead of a warning or a write up, he just pulled me into his office and tried to set up a meeting with my dad. My dad’s a Senator! Do you know how many times he told me not to get in trouble, because he can’t be answering calls from the school all day? He was  _ so _ mad!”

 

Pidge nodded along, having turned on a recording device she stowed away in her backpack. This was all very interesting, and she wished the day was over so she could turn right around and give what she found to Shiro. Regardless, something seemed up with this Mulrig guy, and it made sense that he was quick to call parents, especially since many of those parents were important people.

 

“You guys should stay away from him, as best you can,” Pidge said trying to sound nonchalant, but probably failing at that too.

 

“Don’t worry,” Leah said. “He’s hardly ever here. Sometimes he’s over at the boys school. When he is here, though, he goes ape-shit getting everyone in trouble and calling meetings and stuff. If we see his car in the parking lot, we just go home usually. It’s this weird purple car, you can’t miss it.”

 

Pidge opened her mouth to ask more questions, but the bell rang and it was time for their next class. Sighing, she packed up and tossed her trash from lunch. At least there was only two more hours left in the day and then she could regroup with her team and figure this all out. But, now that she had figured out some intel, she could settle back into her old school routine as if she had never left.

 

Finally, the bell rang, and Pidge quickly gathered her things so she could hurry out of the school. But, her friends were right there to walk out with her and they went on about some upcoming party that she just  _ had _ to go to.

 

“Well, you know, I just came back and uh, you see I’m really busy,” Pidge tried, but they knew she was making excuses and tried to convince her otherwise. It wasn’t out of malice, they genuinely thought that she was being shy and reserved, and that a little outing would do her good.

 

“Well, what if we all came over tomorrow?” Leah asked. “Or you came over to my place? We can hang out! Just us! Is that better?”

 

“No no, don’t come over!” Pidge said all too quickly. The girls gave her a strange look, and Pidge regretted the sudden outburst, but she couldn’t have her mother knowing she was there. Not yet. “Sorry, the house is a mess,” she lied. “And my mom’s sick. Uh, you know she um… wanted to keep me out of school a little longer, so she doesn’t know I’m back. If you see her, don’t tell her okay?” That was believable right? But her friends trusted her, so they nodded and agreed, but still tried to pin her down to plans. Thankfully, Shiro pulled up, with Lance in the passenger’s seat and Keith in the back. 

 

“Get in loser, we’re going home!” Lance called to her and winked at the girls who turned their heads to see who had pulled up.

 

“Who’s that?” Allie asked.

 

“Oh, just my uncle and cousins. They just moved in with us,” Pidge lied quickly as she backed up towards the car and placed her hand on the door handle.

 

“Oh okay. Well bye!” Leah smiled. “Oh wait, Katie! Question, are you going to rejoin the cheerleading squad? We really are missing having someone so short on the team! Some of the freshmen are okay, but you’re just so good at flips!”

 

Pidge felt her face heat up could feel the guys staring a hole in her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lance’s mouth drop open.

 

“Oh, uh… I’ll get back to you,” Pidge mumbled. “I’m so busy. Anyway I gotta go, bye guys!” She then leapt into the car and Shiro started off.

 

Everyone was silent for a moment before Lance turned around to stare at Pidge who was staring out the window like her life depended on it. Keith was looking at her too, and Shiro would have, if he hadn’t been focused on driving.

 

She didn’t get what the big deal was. What? Did the guys think she was born knowing how to flip around and fight bad guys? No, of course she had to have done some sort of sport. And yeah, cheerleading wasn’t her first choice, but all her friends were doing it and the other sports conflicted with time in the lab. Plus, the skills had translated well into kicking alien butt.

She wished someone would say something. Something normal, something that made her feel like part of the team, rather than some outsider who they didn’t know anymore. This whole mission was turning into one bit mistake for Pidge, who wished they could just get off this stupid planet and go back to trying to find her dad and brother. 

 

Eventually, she couldn’t hold it anymore and turned to sheepishly smile at Lance, who had his face scrunched up in utter disbelief.

 

“So uh, how was your--” Pidge started.

  
“You were a  _ what?!” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically, Pidge = Kim Possible haha! If you have questions about my Pidge-past life head cannons, I'd be more than happy to explain further!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge reflects on her past life. The team debriefs and collects information from their day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for the lovely reviews! I love hearing from you all and it really makes my day! Anyway, this chapter is a little long with also little substance, but it builds a bridge to the next chapter. Hopefully you'll get a chuckle out of some of the characters (and hopefully I'm not just funny in my own head!). But as always, enjoy and thank you!

Lance asked so many questions, Pidge had stopped trying to even answer them. Shiro attempted to temper him a little, but there was only so much he could do, and only so many battles he wanted to fight. Keith stared at Pidge, as though he was trying to look for the cheerleader that was tucked away inside her somewhere.

"Hey, hey!" Pidge shouted, growing tired of the constant questioning. "Shut up! Look, yes, I had a life before Voltron, okay? I was a cheerleader, I went to high school. I had long hair and dresses and I also built robots. Okay? Got it? Do you want my life story in a thesis format? Because it's really not that interesting!"

"But if you did all that stuff and liked all that stuff, then why did you drop it all?" Lance asked, truly bewildered at the side of Pidge he was discovering existed.

"Because I can like cheerleading and dresses  _and_  technology and glasses and sweats," Pidge replied with a glare. "I'm sorry I don't fit into that perfect prep girl personality, or the geeky tech kid trope. I used to go to practice and then pull my hair up and work with tech in Dad's lab. I ran formulas and projections with Matt and then went to the mall with friends. And then I  _changed_ , Lance. Some things change after half your family disappears." She crossed her arm and stared out the window, wishing with everything she had that the castle wasn't hidden so far in the desert.

Lance was quiet for a moment and Shiro gently reached out a hand and placed it on the boy's shoulder. "I think that's enough of that." he said kindly and glanced at Pidge in the rearview mirror. He vaguely remembered this side of Pidge, but he'd always been so wrapped up in work to pay much attention to her then. He did sort of remember her helping in the lab and then running off with friends, but the details had been so typical of a young teenager and just so unimportant at the time, he'd completely forgotten about it.

They pulled up to their base and got out of the car. Pidge was still in a foul mood from being interrogated, and she just wanted to get out of her stupid uniform and back into her comfy sweatshirt and basketball shorts. Her eyes also itched a little from her contacts, since she wasn't used to wearing them, and she couldn't wait to swap them out for her glasses.

Shiro asked that they freshen up and then meet in the living room on the couch, where they could discuss their days and swap notes. Pidge wondered briefly as she walked to her room if the other two boys would say anything about the day to the rest of the team. She decided she didn't care, since the rest of the team was just Hunk, Allura, and Coran. The two Alteans wouldn't know nor care what a cheerleader was, and she couldn't imagine Shiro allowing the time to explain it. And Hunk would be surprised, sure, but he wouldn't care and would likely forget anyway.

The girl changed out of her clothes and changed from being Katie to just being Pidge. And she liked 'just Pidge.' Just Pidge wore comfy clothes, and had great friends, and didn't have to worry about scratchy contacts, and got to lose herself in science and technology.

"But Katie had Dad and Matt," Pidge mumbled to herself as she flopped down on the bed for a moment. School had taken a lot out of her. Seeing her old friends, her old teachers… her old life, it all made her feel things she couldn't quite name. Guilt, anger, shame, frustration, sadness. But she also felt happiness and contentment at the person she had become. Now she wasn't just Katie, the friendly cheerleader with the big brain and love of robotics. She was Pidge, a Paladin of Voltron, defender of the universe, fighter of Zarkon. Sure, she couldn't put it on college application, but what she was doing meant more than anything she had ever done before.

She stood and started to walk down the long hall to the meeting area. It would have been nice to zone out on the bed a little longer, but she knew that if she didn't get moving, Shiro would be at her door soon to drag her away.

She and Keith came in at nearly the same time. Keith glanced over at her, and for a moment she was afraid he would say something, but he just gave her a friendly smile. Pidge appreciated that smile more than she could express. It conveyed so much, especially the fact that he didn't care who she was before. She was his friend  _now_.

They sat down along with Hunk on the almost completely circular couch. Allura and Shiro were talking about how the day had gone on the other side of the desert, and Coran was tinkering with some device. Pidge craned her neck so she could see better, but from where she was sitting, she couldn't tell what exactly it was.

Shiro turned around and did a brief headcount before frowning. "Where's Lance?" he asked as everyone shrugged in unison. The man sighed and looked at Allura who shrugged once more and turned to talk to Coran. Hunk and Keith started chatting and Pidge listened, but didn't participate. It would be another few minutes before the blue Paladin would come wandering into the room. He waltzed in, as though he wasn't needed for a meeting and just happened to be wandering the halls.

As Lance took a seat, Shiro opened his mouth to reprimand him, but thought better of it. They'd wasted enough time and needed to get down to business.

"Alright," he said, bringing the meeting to an open. "So, while Keith, Lance, and Pidge were at the schools, I headed into town to talk to the locals, and Hunk, Coran, and Allura worked on tech and scouting the area. Let's start there, what did you guys find out?"

"So Coran and me built a detector ray that would work in the Earth's atmosphere," Hunk said. "And then we got hungry…"

Shiro raised an eyebrow. "And…?"

"And your Earth food is rather strange," Coran noted. "We went to a place called Daniel's-"

"Denny's," Hunk corrected.

"Yes and I got something called a 'pot pie' that was neither a pot nor looked like pie. And  _then_ , we had to give more money to the servants!" Coran looked absolutely scandalized by that notion, while Keith rolled his eyes, Pidge tried not to laugh, and Shiro sighed.

"Well then what was the pot pie?" Allura asked, absolutely enthralled by the story of earth food. She hadn't been able to go, since they were worried she would stand out too much. But they had brought her home a chicken sandwich, which she enjoyed.

"Mushy," Coran said. "But good. It was like Blarquid."

"Oh, I love Blarquid!"

"Wait, you took him to  _Denny's_? Dude…" Lance looked at Hunk, who held his hands up.

"Hey, man it was the closest thing and we were starving! We didn't go, we just kind of ended up there!"

"Alright, alright," Shiro sighed. "Is there anything of note that happened with you all?"

"Um… we said it was Coran's birthday and got free cake." Hunk said.

"Okay, next," Shiro replied quickly and glanced at Allura.

"I've been using my force to try to track down any encampments, but it's not precise without a tool to guide it," Allura said. "I did what I could and found nothing, but hopefully the detector will be up and running soon enough."

Shiro nodded. "Great, let's try to get that done by tomorrow. And no more lunch breaks at Denny's." He left that with a smile, so that Hunk and Coran knew he wasn't mad at either of them, but that this was urgent and needed to be done.

He then turned to Keith, Lance, and Pidge. "Alright, guys. How was school?" He couldn't help but smirk a little at that, and was very interested in how Keith and Lance's day went. Pidge, he was sure kept a cool head, but he was curious as to what the boys had found out.

"Boring," Lance whined. "And way too hard! Pidge, I thought you were putting us in easy classes!"

"I  _did_  put you in easy classes," Pidge shrugged. "Sorry, guess you have to study!"

Lance huffed. "The teachers are mean, there's no girls, and all the guys paid like no attention to us until we were super awesome at basketball!"

Shiro raised an eyebrow, and his suspicions were confirmed that something was up when he saw Keith punch Lance in the side.

"We said we weren't going to talk about it!" Keith hissed, but it was too late. The room had gone very quiet, and all were dying to know what they were talking about. Pidge, especially wanted to hear this. Maybe it was more embarrassing than her cheerleader revelation.

"What happened, guys?" Shiro asked expectantly. Keith opened his mouth to answer, probably in a very diplomatic and minimal way, but Lance cut him off.

"We kicked ass in basketball, and now everyone wants us to join all the sports teams! Which, like, I get because we're awesome, but it's annoying because now no one will leave us alone!"

Everyone was quiet for a moment while they looked between the blue and red Paladins. Coran and Allura only knew what a few words in that sentence meant, Hunk looked very confused, Shiro put his head in his hands, and Pidge broke the silence by bursting into laughter and falling off the couch. This caused Hunk to laugh, and then Allura and Coran did as well. Even Shiro let out a chuckle, but he kept it hidden behind his hand and tried to regain his composure.

"I told you guys to stay low," he said, failing to hide his smile.

"It's not our fault we're better than everyone else!" Lance replied.

"We'll do better," Keith promised. As much as he wanted to smack Lance upside the head, he also wanted to remain in the good graces of their leader. Plus, he promised Shiro he was working on controlling his temper. And, playing basketball against Lance was probably better than killing him, so there was that.

"Good. And no joining any teams," Shiro said. "We're here on a mission, not to play games. Please remember that!" The boys nodded and Shiro turned to Pidge. "Alright, last but not least, your day."

"Well, I actually found out something really interesting," Pidge said and pulled out her recording of her friends at lunch. First she played it while everyone listened before giving context. "So, Mr. Hoctor used to be the Vice Principal until he disappeared and then this Mulrig came in. He's mean, abrasive, and he's very quick to call parents in for a meeting. It also sounds like he's targeting kids from important families; getting them in trouble so he'll have to call their parents. He's not there often, probably because he's wherever the Galra base is."

"Interesting," Shiro mumbled as he grabbed the recording. He'd make a note to analyze it later. "Good at least someone had a productive day! But, Pidge, your cover is compromised."

"Oh, no! What happened?" Allura asked with concern, fearing the youngest Paladin was hurt. Pidge just sighed and shook her head.

"Look, I went to that school," She said, much to the shock of everyone except for Lance, since the boy, for once, already knew the big news. "And those were my old friends. I've known them since we were toddlers, so I could have tried every disguise in the world and they still would have recognized me. But it's fine, really. It's easier this way. I learned all this stuff while they're catching me up on what's happened while I'm gone. And it's not like they know I'm a Paladin or something. I'm just Katie, the girl who lost her dad and brother and who's come back to school now."

Shiro contemplated this for a long moment while he studied the girl. He was not a fan of the idea that Pidge was more or less known to the people at the school, but on the other hand, she was right. No one knew she was a Paladin, and her cover was much more believable than "two boys who love basketball show up one day."

"Just remember, Pidge, we're on a mission," He reminded her gently. "Don't get too involved or too attached. Because once the threat of the Galra are gone, we have to go. The rest of the universe needs us."

"I know!" Pidge replied defensively, though she wasn't sure why exactly she felt slighted. Part of her was concerned that Shiro thought she wasn't as "strong" as the others, or that she would give them all away. But, she knew deep down that he meant no malice by his words. He was just very cautious and very protective of his team.

"Alright. Well, tomorrow let's just keep doing what we've been doing," Shiro said. "Hopefully with the detector up and going, we can root out exactly where this Galra base is. Lance, Keith, Pidge, if you guys are able to, try to get in trouble okay? I'm sure that won't be too hard," he said glancing at Lance and Keith. "But see if you can do that, and if not, make friends with someone who has gotten into trouble. Pidge, you might be better at that since you know the girls there. Just ask what the meeting was about, if they know what the parents discussed, that sort of thing."

"Got it," the three Paladins said in unison.

"Hunk, Coran, get that device running. Allura, keep trying to sense them, but don't stress yourself out too much."

"I won't," Allura assured while Hunk and Coran nodded.

Shiro then dismissed them and Pidge was glad to have the chance to go to her room, relax, maybe put on some music, and do some relaxing trig calculations for homework.

"Piiiiidge!" Lance called out. "Can you do my homework for me?"

Okay, maybe relaxation would have to wait.


	6. Mulrig's Office

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge sneaks into Mulrig's office

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter! Updates might be slowing down a bit, just FYI, though I'll try to keep it to once a week! With the FMA movie coming up, RoyAi has gotten me like woah! So I've been writing a ton for them too! Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!

 

The next few weeks seemed to fly by in a haze. For eight hours a day, Pidge pretended she was a normal, highschool girl, just as she had been before. Of course, she was still on a mission and did her best not to forget that, but she couldn't help but enjoy slipping back to her old life for a few hours a day. Of course, once Shiro picked them up, she was back to being a Paladin, and spent her evenings providing the intel she had received and then working with Hunk and Coran on building tech that will help search out the Galra.

Lance was the most vocal about it, but the other Paladins were a little worried about how long this was taking them. However, Shiro was firm that things had to be taken slowly and deliberately, because they couldn't afford to blow their cover. If they rushed in, they risked alerting the military or the government, and since they didn't know of the existence of aliens, or at least aliens on Earth, things could devolve very quickly. Allura was not fond of how slow they were going either, but noted that they might be taking their time out of care and love for their home planet.

Keith and Lance fared well at school, though Pidge eventually had to agree to doing some of their homework. English and History, they were good at, but the math confused them. Pidge couldn't blame them much. She had spent her whole life building upon advanced math skills. English was easy enough to jump into and the boys could get by in History by paying attention in class, but without the special instruction, understanding the math was hard. Of course, that didn't help them much during quizzes, which they weren't doing too well at, but Shiro was hopeful that the bad grades would cause them to be pulled into the Vice Principal's office.

But, neither Lance nor Keith were able to get pulled into Mulrig's office. They were reprimanded by their teachers, and that was about it. They even asked if they would have to call home, but the infractions were never bad enough.

"Stupid caring teachers!" Lance had said in a meeting. "They just want us to 'do our best' and 'get into a good college.' Ugh! Can't they just be mean and call home or something?"

But the teachers did care about their grades, and unless they committed a much more serious infraction, they weren't getting to the Vice Principal. They worried about being outright bad, though. If it got taken even a bit too far, they would be sent right to the Principal or Dean, and they also risked blowing their cover by being to overt.

Pidge, however, felt she was starting to get somewhere over at the girl's school. She had slipped right back into her old life and chatted with the girls at lunch as though she had never left. So, when Allie came to lunch with a sour look on her face, the girls instantly lowered their heads and dropped their voices to a comforting whisper.

"He wants to meet with my Mom," Allie complained about the Vice Principal.

"About what? What did you do?" Tiffany asked, placing a comforting hand on her friend's back.

"My blouse was untucked." The girls stared. "Seriously! That's it! I got a write up from my math teacher , which okay yeah my shirt was untucked. I get it. But it's just supposed to be a warning! But the Mulrig wants to meet with my mom about it! She's going to get so pissed. Like super pissed."

Pidge stared at her old friend for a moment, a cold shock of realization coming over her. "Is your mom still a commanding officer at the Garrison?" she asked and the other girls looked over at her questioningly.

"Uh, yeah." Allie said in a confused tone. "But even if she wasn't, once a military mom, always a military mom."

"Right, I know," Pidge replied trying to think of a good reason why she would ask a distressed friend such a basic question. "Just wondering, I haven't been here for a bit. But he pulls her away from the Garrison she will be mad. I'm sorry, Allie." Her friend nodded and they all went back to comforting her.

Pidge only listened on the surface, but she was trying to think of a way to get into that meeting. She realized, this was her chance to figure out exactly what was going on during those meetings, though she felt bad about using her friend like this. But, this was a mission, she reminded herself. Besides, it wasn't like Allie would get hurt. She decided she was just going to bug the room, no big deal.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Pidge said suddenly and stood up. She smiled at her friend. "Don't worry, I'm sure your mom will see how dumb this is and be mad at Mulrig, not you. I'll see you guys after class!" Her friends bade her goodbye and she hurried out of the lunchroom. She only had a little bit of time to pull this off.

The halls were quiet, but no one strictly patrolled them. As long as you had a good excuse to be in the halls, no one would get mad unless you were constantly wandering around. Pidge had been good about staying where she needed to be, so she raised no suspicion as she walked to her locker and then made her way to the front office.

"Excuse me," she said and knocked on the door to the Nurse's office, which was connected to the rest of the administrative offices. An older woman walked over.

"The nurse isn't here. You okay?" she asked and Pidge recognized her as one of the office workers.

"I feel really sick, can I lie down?" Pidge tried to make herself look as sick as possible by holding her stomach and looking up in the most pitiful way she could muster. The office aide took pity on her and unlocked the door.

"If you need to leave, I'll be happy to call home," said the woman with concern as Pidge laid down on the crummy single bed. But the girl shook her head.

"I have a test last period," she said weakly. "I want to try to make it." The office worker said okay and left Pidge to rest. From where she was laying, Pidge could see who was entering the office and who left. And, as the bell rang and people moved around, Pidge had a good idea of where everyone was going and where they would end up.

Finally, things in the office calmed down and Pidge only had to wait a little bit before the office aide left. She hopped up and crept to the door, checking first to make sure no one else was there. When the coast was clear, she hurried across the main office and into the back hallway where the smaller, private offices were.

Most of the administrators also taught a class, so the offices were empty. As she neared the back where the Vice Principal's office was, she became worried she'd get caught and tried to think of a good reason why she was back there. She couldn't think of one, so she just had to not get caught.

She reached the dark wooden door, which was shut, and as expected, locked. But Pidge knew what to do. She set down her bag and riffled through it before pulling out a small, needle-looking devise. She placed the needle in the lock and rolled up her sleeve to tap on her watch, which was really a high tech Altean computer that Allura gave her for this sort of situation. After tapping a few options, the needle got to work and quickly unlocked the door.

Stepping into the office was like stepping into any other office at any other American high school. There was a large desk with a chair behind it and two chairs in front, with a bookshelf behind that. An American flag hung from the wall and the office was littered with other unassuming tokens of decor-books, papers, a degree in administration from a university Pidge had never heard of before. In fact, it looked so normal that Pidge wondered briefly if her instincts were wrong. Maybe Mulrig was just a very angry man.

His office seemed normal enough, but she still felt that something was up. Either way, she then stuck a bug under the desk and checked around for any more evidence or clues she could find. After taking a picture of a few more loose papers, she decided she had gotten enough and grabbed her backpack.

As she opened the door and took a step outside, she found herself running right into a brick wall. Her mind completely shut down as she looked up into the eyes of a very tall, very muscular, and very angry man.

"What were you doing in my office?!" He bellowed and reached out to grab Pidge by the arm, but she managed to sink to the floor in time and maneuver her way around him.

"Dropped my pencil under the door, sorry gotta go bye!" she shouted and ran out of the office. She continued running out of the school and halfway across the field. She grabbed her communication device out of her backpack and dialed Shiro as fast as she could without stopping.

"Shiro!" She cried into the mic. "I've been compromised. Pick me up stat! I've turned my tracker on and I can't stop, so please get to me as quick as I can! I'm heading West."

"Compromised? Pidge? What?" Shiro asked in disbelief as the words started to register in his brain. "Shit. Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can. Just make sure you get a safe distance away! Is anyone following you?"

Pidge hesitated, almost not wanting to confirm or deny if anyone was chasing her. She found herself thoroughly afraid, which was strange, she felt, since she had never been this scared on a mission. But, then again, this time she didn't have her Paladin armor, her Lion, or her team to back her up. It was just her and an open field. But, when she turned around she didn't see anything, so she shouted back, "No, I'm good." But just a few seconds later, she saw a strange purple car tear out of the parking lot. "Fuck!" She shouted, "No, I'm being followed! Hurry, Shiro!"

She took off running and decided to change course. Instead of heading West towards the road, she went East, where the woods meet the school fields. The car could follow her on the street, and could veer off into the field, but the trees grew so close together, there was no way it could chase here there.

Sure enough, the car took off across the field, but Pidge was already in the trees. "I'm in the woods behind the girl's school," Pidge called into her intercom.

"Keith, Lance, are you there?" Shiro called.

"Here," Keith responded after a long moment. He sounded like he was whispering, but the room he was in gave off an echo. Pidge easily identified it as a bathroom. "What's the distress signal for?"

"Me!" Pidge shouted. "I'm in distress!"

"Shit, what happened, Pidge?" Lance asked in a loud voice and Keith shushed him harshly.

"I got into Mulrig's office," Pidge replied, starting to huff between words. She was becoming exhausted, but had to keep running. She didn't dare stop, not even for a moment. "But he caught me as I was coming out. I'm crossing the woods that separate the girl's school from the boy's."

"Roger that," Keith replied. "We'll head out now."

"Aww man, but gym class!" was the last thing Pidge heard from that side of the conversation before they clicked off.

"Keep going, Pidge, you're almost there," Shiro replied. Pidge was about to say something when she heard a crash behind her. She turned around and saw some branches and small trees falling. Then, she caught a glimpse of her pursuer, a tall purple man-like creature with ears that resembled a cat. Pidge couldn't tell from that quick glance if it was Mulrig or another Galra, or if they were the same person, but he was catching up and Pidge would have to get creative with where she was running. She wouldn't be able to out pace him, but she could slip under branches that he wouldn't be able to.

So, that's what she started to do. Even though it took her off the direct path, she was able to slow her pursuer down by running under low hanging branches and climbing up over tall logs that had fallen over. Finally, Pidge saw the bright sun peek out from the canopy of trees and she found herself in another field that she recognized as where the other school played football.

As she exited the woods, she saw the car pull up and also spotted two figures running out of the school towards the field. She also heard a crashing noise and knew that the person chasing her wasn't too far behind. She kept running, but screamed when she saw a flash of purple beside he. They had a laser gun, and he wasn't afraid to use it!

"I'm here!" Shiro called into her com device. "Door's open, jump in, and we'll jet!"

Pidge started running in a zigzag pattern, hoping that would throw off the alien behind her. Lance and Keith started shouting, but stopped at the car because they knew they'd be of no use without their Lions or suits.

Suddenly, Pidge felt a force push her forward and a searing pain spread throughout her arm. She knew she had been hit, but kept running. She saw flecks of red out of the corners of her eyes and felt herself bleeding heavily, but she had to make it to that car.

She crossed into the parking lot when she felt another stabbing pain rip through her arm again. She didn't know if she had been shot again or if it was her arm screaming at her to stop from the first time. She felt darkness cloud her vision, but knew if she stopped she would die. The car got closer and closer and she focused on only running.

Finally, after what felt like a thousand years, she reached it. She vaguely heard the boys calling to her, shouting, screaming, begging her to get in. She jumped and felt a tug as Lance grabbed her and pulled her the rest of the way inside the car. Keith shut the door and Shiro sped off, going as fast as the disguised escape pod could go.

Around her, the boys were shouting at her, shaking and poking, and lifting her arm up for a better view. She knew they were calling to her, but she couldn't understand what they were saying. It was as though she was deep underwater and they were speaking a language she had never heard before. It all became too much for her exhausted mind to focus on. Her unseeing eyes slipped closed and she let darkness claim her as the shouting above water faded away.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was probably my favorite one to write, because I adore getting into Shiro's head! As always, thanks for all the love, and enjoy this chapter!

 

* * *

The throbbing pain in her head was Pidge's first sign that she was awake, which was strange because she expected to feel herself floating in goo. But, as she slowly regained consciousness, she didn't hear the low hiss of the healing pod open, nor did she have to brace herself for the short fall out of it. No, she was definitely lying down, horizontally, with a blanket covering her and her head on a soft pillow. And, Pidge figured, that was a good way to wake up. She'd often regarded the healing pods with awe, but with the understanding that she'd never want to end up in one.

Her senses came back slowly and one at a time. First was the pain, which wasn't so much a sense, but a feeling. Her head hurt, probably from running, and there was dull, but still burning pain in her arm. Then her memory came back, and she recognized the pain in her arm as being from the shot of a laser gun. She was lucky she made it out.

She didn't feel like she could open her eyes, but her hearing opened back up, right to the sound of Shiro's voice. It was patchy at first, but soon she was hearing and comprehending everything he was saying.

"I wish the healing pods were working," Shiro said in a tone that Pidge couldn't quite place. It sounded almost like anguish but was carried with an air of a leader who couldn't really be open. "She'd probably be awake if they were."

"We had to divert all the power from the pods to the detector device." That was Allura's voice, Pidge recognized immediately. "But I think she'll be alright. It's just an arm."

"It could get infected!" Shiro responded in a harsh voice before letting out a sigh. "Sorry, Princess. I'm just…"

"Stressed?" the woman finished.

"Extremely. A member of my team got hurt. If I'd gotten there faster, or given her better directives. If we'd gone in sooner or chosen a different course of action, then maybe she'd wouldn't be…" He trailed off and Pidge heard what sounded like someone sitting down.

"Shiro, you can't blame yourself for every little thing that goes wrong," Allura said in a comforting voice. "I know that the choices you make, and the decisions you follow through with have consequences, but sometimes there are things that are just out of your control. You can plan for everything and then that one thing still goes terribly wrong. Trust me, I know, from one leader to another." There was a hint of sadness and regret in her voice, and Pidge guessed it was from her entire planet being destroyed. She heard Shiro sigh.

"It's hard not to feel entirely responsible," he said and fell silent for such a long time, Pidge thought she'd fallen back asleep. But then he spoke again, there was raw emotion in his voice. "I became the leader of the Black Lion, and I'm eternally grateful it chose me. But then I also became the leader to four kids. Not young kids, but still kids. They need guidance. They've been ripped from their families. They didn't even finish school. And as their leader, I have to train them not only to fight but also how to be a team. I feel like I suddenly got sole custody of four younger siblings."

"That just means you've grown close," Allura said gently after a small pause. "That's a good thing. That's how the Paladins of Voltron should be."

"No," Shiro replied quickly. "I mean, you're right, we should be a team. But they're becoming my family. And that's dangerous. How can I make good decisions as a leader when I worry over them as a brother? I mean, look at Pidge. Everything in me is telling me to pull her from this mission and not put her out again. But the leader in me knows I can't do that."

"Then that's the mark of a good leader," Allura replied. "And a good brother. You can be both. Being a Paladin is a strange responsibility. I would be worried about a Black Paladin who didn't feel the way you do. And I don't think it's possible to travel through space and time over the course of a year and not end up as close as family."

There was a very long silence and Pidge stopped listening for more of their words. She was just tired. And warm. Really warm. And she wanted to talk to Shiro, and let him know that he didn't make any bad decisions and that he was a good leader. But, even though her senses were returning, she felt so weak.

"Mm...ro…" Pidge murmured out and tried to shift herself on the bed. She heard a chair screech as it slid back and almost immediately after felt a weight on her hand.

"Pidge? You awake?" Shiro asked gently.

"Yeah." If Shiro hadn't been searching for the affirmative, he would have mistaken Pidge's word as a very heavy breath. But the girl slowly opened her eyes and then blinked at the bright overhead light. She was in her room. That was nice, Pidge felt better being in her own bed.

Shiro let out a heavy sigh. "Thank god," he said. "How are you feeling? Allura, go get her some water." He paused, realizing he had just ordered a Princess around. "Uh, please."

"On it," the woman said with a smile as she hurried out of the room.

"'m hot," Pidge mumbled. "My arm hurts."

Shiro looked down and lifted her arm. He unwrapped the bandages and Pidge winced. She thought she heard the man swear, but she also could have easily been mistaken. What she couldn't see was Shiro staring intently at her arm, which had turned red and hadn't even started to heal.

"Coran!" He shouted suddenly. Within seconds, the orange haired man ran into the room, sensing the urgency in Shiro's voice. "We need a healing pod."

"We won't be able to get one up and running for quite a while."

"Her arm looks infected, we have to do something!"

"I'm sure we can take care of it on our-"

"Look at it!" Shiro shouted. He felt bad for yelling at the poor man, but he couldn't take all this milling around. Pidge, meanwhile, wished the shouting would stop so she could just go back to sleep.

"Oh dear…" Coran took Pidge's arm and studied it intently. "Well, she did get hit straight on. Usually, your suits diffuse the plasma in the rays."

"So, what can we do?" Shiro asked as Allura brought back some water. Very carefully, they sat Pidge up, who protested a little at being made to leave the comfort of her pillow. As she sipped on the water, she felt much better, and Shiro noted that some color was returning to her cheeks.

"I suppose just keep her comfortable," Coran replied. "I'll work on diverting some energy to at least one of the pods." He then quickly left the room so he could do just that, and Allura followed, hoping she could use some of her force to heat up a pod quicker.

Shiro helped Pidge lay back down. "What're you all freaking out about?" Pidge asked tiredly. She had only really heard only a bit of the conversation going on around her.

"You arm is not looking too good," Shiro said as gently as he could. "But Coran's going to get a healing pod ready. You'll be good as new soon!"

"I bugged Mulrig's room," Pidge said and looked at Shiro who gave her a surprised look.

"You what?"

"Yeah he caught me," she said, trying to keep herself from slurring her words too much. "My friend, Allie. She got in trouble. Mom's a commander at Garrison. Wanted to know what goes on in the meetings."

"Great job, Pidge!" Shiro smiled widely. He almost couldn't handle the emotions running through him now. Worry, excitement, fear, pride. It was overwhelming.

"Just thought you should know." Her voice was fading, and talking was becoming quite the task. But, she could feel how proud he was of her, and that sense of love was all she needed to feel much more comfortable.

Shiro stood. "Great work," he said again. "I don't know what this team would do without you. Now, get some sleep so we can have you back and good as new."

Pidge was quiet for a moment, and Shiro started for the door.

"Hey Shiro?" she asked suddenly and he stopped and looked over at her. "'Yer a really good brother." And then she faded to black.

* * *

When Pidge woke up next, she was still lying down, but she felt different. Perhaps cleaner was a good word for it. She also didn't feel any pain at all. In fact, she just felt a little tired. It was almost like waking from a really good nap, where you'd give anything to just go back to sleep. But, unfortunately, she was slowly coming into the acceptance phase, where she realized she would not be going back to precious sleep.

She pried her eyes open and looked back up at her same familiar ceiling in her same familiar room. Sighing with relief, she sat up and looked around her room, quickly noting that she was alone.

Placing a hand over the arm that had been hit, she was pleasantly surprised to see that her wound was essentially gone aside from a small circle like a dot. She briefly wondered if it would turn into a scar, or just fade like a bruise.

The quiet was nice, and Pidge leaned back against her wall, happy to take in non-sleeping, non-school silence. She couldn't wait to get back to her lab and work on everything. That also made her wonder what day it was. She knew she had been in the goo for some period of time, but didn't know how long. For all she knew, she'd been out for weeks!

Pidge stood and held onto the wall for balance, but quickly found she was alright walking. She noted that first, she was feeling much better and second, she probably hadn't been lying down for weeks on end.

Pressing a button next to her door caused it to slide open, and she slowly made her way down the hall. It felt good to walk around, and also felt good to not be in pain. However, it did not feel good to not know what time it was. She felt a small bit of anxiety, as she always had when she didn't know the time. She wished the castle had more windows because it was hard to guess what time it was when you were locked in a metal space ship.

Finally, she reached a window and found herself looking into the Arizona daylight. It didn't seem like it was past noon since the sunlight had a hint of late morning to it. She found herself grateful that it wasn't late at night, because she didn't want to throw her sleep schedule off, and also didn't think she could bring herself to go back to bed, despite her tiredness.

She continued down the hall until she turned the corner into the main room. No one was near the couch, but she heard someone banging around in the kitchen, who she assumed was Hunk, a few people in the laboratory, and she thought she heard a gladiator start up in the training simulation area.

As she was moving to sit down on the couch, Shiro came around the corner. He looked very surprised to see her, but his surprise quickly ebbed into a smile. "Pidge! You're awake." Wherever he was originally going to didn't matter. Instead, he sat down on the couch next to the youngest Paladin.

"Yeah, I feel a lot better now," Pidge said. "How long was I out?"

"Well you didn't look too good when we first brought you back," Shiro said. "But thankfully, Coran and Allura got a healing pod up and running and you were in it overnight. When you came out, you were still out of it so we brought you to your room." He didn't mention the kind thing she had said before passing out again but didn't feel the need. However, what Pidge said stayed with him and made him feel much more confident. She might have been suffering from blood loss and the fever, but Shiro knew her words had been honest.

"Thanks," Pidge replied, honestly not knowing what to say. She figured, 'thanks for not letting me die' was a little obvious. "Well, that means the meeting with Mulrig and Allie's mom hasn't taken place yet! We can listen in and see what's going on with that."

Shiro nodded. "Really good thinking there, Pidge. Sorry about how that ended, but I think you just gave us the breakthrough we've been waiting for."

"Anything to take down the Galra," Pidge said earnestly.

"Are you sure you don't want to take it easy for a few days?" Shiro asked, letting his brotherly, overprotective side kick in. He was protective of all the Paladins, sure, but Pidge was different. He wasn't stupid enough to worry about her just because she was a girl-she was more than capable of handling herself. But, she was the youngest, and he was so close to her brother, Matt, and her father. Even though they hadn't exactly "hung out" in their past lives before Voltron, Shiro still felt a protectiveness over her, probably because he felt that was what Matt would have wanted.

But Pidge, ever the fighter, nodded enthusiastically. "One more good night of sleep and I'll be back and better than ever!" she assured her friend and leader. "Besides, if anything comes of this meeting, or if something goes wrong, I need to be at the school so I can help and track down more clues."

Shiro patted her on the back. He'd known her reply before he'd even asked the question, though he still felt compelled to voice his concern. But, if Pidge was sure she was up and ready to go, then he certainly wasn't going to tell her no. Besides, while the Paladins listened to him usually without issue, if he made a bad decision or voiced an unpopular opinion, they were quick to correct or at least try to convince otherwise. If he'd tried to keep Pidge down, she would have complained. A lot.

"Well, do take it easy today," Shiro still said, and Pidge made a face. "It won't be that hard to do, trust me. Hunk's cooking and making grocery lists, Coran and Allura are working on tech, and the other guys are alternating between being lazy and doing some training. So, if you want, relax, and if you'd rather, go ahead and help Allura and Coran in the lab."

Pidge smiled up at him, glad both for the confidence that she was ready to get back to work, and for the relaxing day they had. Even when they weren't on a mission, breaks were few and far between. Of course, the search for her family never stopped, but it was also nice to get the chance to take a nap or play around in the zero gravity.

"Sounds good," She said standing up. "I'll go see what I can do for Allura and Coran!" And with that, Pidge hurried off to the lab to see what interesting tech had been developed to help rid the Earth of the Galra.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, took a long weekend to visit family. And oh yeah, watch season 3 lol. Anyway, hope you continue to enjoy!

The other Paladins plus Allura and Coran were thrilled to have Pidge back. Hunk swept her up in a big hug and went on for a long time about how worried he'd been, while Keith and Lance welcomed her back with smiles and pats on the back.

But, Pidge didn't have time to play with the welcome parade. There was a meeting she had to get to. Well, eavesdrop on.

The large dining room table was transformed into a makeshift spy lab, as Pidge worked on her laptop to rip audio from the bug. The device had been on since she'd placed it, so there was also recordings to go through, but that could happen later. The other Paladins crowded around to listen in, and Pidge had to swap out her headphones for speakers, which were surprisingly hard to find in the lab. But, she was able to dig some up just before the meeting started.

Hunk made popcorn and everyone sat around listening quietly and munching on their snack. Allura surveyed the popcorn warily, unsure of what this strange earth snack food was. But, seeing how the Paladins eagerly started eating, she realized it must at least be safe. She picked up a small, bright yellow piece and popped it in her mouth. Instantly, as the butter and salt dissolved on her tongue, she broke into a huge smile.

"Mmmm! This is so good!" she exclaimed loudly to the shushing of Shiro, Pidge, and Keith.

"It's butter lovers," Hunk whispered excitedly before throwing as much popcorn as he could fit into his mouth.

"Well, I don't know who this 'Butter' person is, but it's so nice they're sharing something they love with everyone," Allura whispered back.

As the Princess neared the end of her sentence, a creaking noise was heard over the speakers. Immediately, the room fell silent as they heard someone say, "Ah, Mrs. Heeley, please take a seat."

"General Heeley is fine," came an annoyed, terse sounding response that Pidge instantly recognized as her friend Allie's mom. There was a brief pause and the very soft sound of chairs being pulled out before the woman spoke again. "Mr. Mulrig, I understand that my daughter had her shirt untucked, and trust me, I've spoken to her about being more vigilant in the future. But I fail to see how a meeting with me is going to accomplish anything."

There was a hesitant pause before Mulrig responded. "We hold our girls to very high standards."

"Yes, I realize that. But they're still girls," General Heeley replied. "And they make mistakes. A write up, I understand. Even a detention, if they continue to break the rules. But calling a meeting with a parent over an untucked shirt? Mr. Mulrig, I've been in the military nearly my whole life, and we have rules and procedures that sometimes seem silly even to me, but this is by far the biggest example of punishment not fitting the crime I've ever seen."

Pidge couldn't help but smile to herself as she listened to Mulrig and General Heeley go back and forth about whether or not the meeting was warranted. This Galra had picked the wrong mom to drag into a meeting over something stupid. Allie's mother held her, and all of her children, to a very high standard, being in the military and all, but if someone wronged her family, they'd better watch out. She didn't let any shit slide.

There was some sort of murmuring that didn't sound like either of the people in the room, and Pidge wondered if someone else was there. However, she didn't have a chance to voice her thoughts before the tone of the conversation changed.

"Mr. Mulrig, if I may," General Heeley started.

"You may not," Mulrig replied and Pidge felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. That sounded like a completely different voice. It was Mulrig for sure, but the tone had changed completely. The Paladins all exchanged a glance. This was going from zero to sixty very quickly. There was an intense, long pause before Mulrig spoke again.

"You will speak to your daughter about this."

"I will speak to my daughter about this."

Pidge's mouth dropped open and she looked right up at Shiro who caught the tone as well. That voice sounded hypnotized, almost robotic like.

"You will not speak of this meeting again."

"I will not speak of this meeting again."

Shiro looked back down at Pidge with an unreadable expression on his face. It was a mix of worry and disbelief, and Pidge could tell everyone in the room was feeling the same.

"He's brainwashing her," Lance whispered in shock. "Or something."

"It must be Druid magic," Allura replied.

"You will keep my contact information, and answer any time I call."

"I will keep your contact information and answer any time you call."

There was another pause, and no one spoke or moved. Even the Paladins were holding their breath, waiting to see what would happen next.

"When the time comes, you will align yourself with the Galra."

"When the time comes, I will align myself with the Galra."

"Good, now, get out of my office."

There was the moving of chairs, the open and shut sound of a door, and then nothing. Mulrig sounded like he was shuffling papers around, but did not speak anymore.

Pidge turned down the speakers and made sure everything was still recording. She glanced around the table at the shocked looks of her friends and leaned heavily back in her chair.

"Well that happened," Hunk finally said, breaking the silence. Everyone glanced at him, and then glanced back down at the table.

"So the Galra can… Brainwash?" Keith said, almost as though he was speaking to himself, but then he looked back around the table for a response. "They've never tried it on us before."

"I do not know the ways of the Galra," Allura prefaced, "But I am not surprised they can brainwash, especially when their victims are such an easily confused species."

"Hey!" Hunk waved his hands over his head. "Member of said easily confused species over here!" Lance also looked stricken, and Allura looked a little guilty for unintentionally roasting her five Paladins.

"Sorry, sorry. What I mean is, uh… Well, what I said. Unsuspecting might be a better term," she decided and quickly continued when she saw Lance was about to protest. "You have been fighting Zarkon for a year now. You know to be prepared for anything. But these people on Earth might not even believe there is any species outside of their planet. So, they're not expecting to be brainwashed by alien invaders. Does that make sense?"

Before anyone could question or respond, Shiro nodded and spoke. "Yes, that does, Princess," he said. "We've already steeled ourselves against Zarkon's tricks. We know what side we're on, and we know what we're fighting for. But someone like General Heeley walks into a meeting, thinking it's about her daughter. There's no mental blocks or guards, just an open, willing, unsuspecting mind."

"And she's a general!" Lance said. "Like, that's pretty high up! If they're trying to get to the top, they're off to a pretty good start."

Shiro nodded gravely. "Yes, so time is even more of the essence. We still have to be careful, but we also have to move quickly. We need to find out where they're hiding. If we can go in, wipe them out, and leave, we'll be good."

"But what if we get brainwashed?" Hunk asked, shifting uncomfortably in his chair as he wrung his hands around. "I mean like that General Lady did? What if we get captured and they make us pledge allegiance to the Galra?!" He looked at Keith. "No offense."

"Okay, you know you don't have to say 'no offense' every time you say something negative about the Galra, right?" Keith asked, his eyes narrowing as his temper started to rise. "They're nothing to me. And you're not going to get brainwashed. Relax."

Hunk didn't look at all convinced, but he did fall silent. There was an uncomfortable pause in the conversation before Lance picked it up again.

"I mean," he said, "We've already got our mental block, right? That couldn't happen to us?"

Shiro sighed. "Relax, guys," he said. "If the Galra wanted to brainwash us, they've had plenty of opportunities as it is. Let's just focus on the mission. As long as we do our job quickly and do it well, we won't have to worry about brain games."

* * *

And so the Paladins continued their mission with even more vigor and urgency. Pidge, especially, was worried and extremely disturbed at hearing her friend's mother under Galra influence. She had known General Heeley since she was young, and hearing that tone of voice from the strong, powerful women scared her. If the Galra could do that to General Heeley, Pidge figured, they really were a force to be reckoned with.

But, even though Pidge had gotten them to this point, it wasn't the tech geek that got them their next clue. It was Lance. Of course, it was Lance being… well, Lance that helped him attain the information in the first place.

It was after school and some cheerleaders from the girl's school had left early to make it to the football field for practice. Lance skipped his last period and was just taking a walk around to clear his head when he noticed them so, naturally, he made a beeline for the practice field.

"Hi, I'm Lance, and don't worry, I know what you're thinking," He started, sliding up to a pretty blonde. "Yes, I am actually this charming and adorable." He flashed her a smile and she glanced over at him before rolling her eyes. Okay, he'd been expecting that.

"Wait, Rachel, that's the new kid," a girl to her right said. "The one that's really good at basketball." Lance found himself pretty surprised at the recognition, but then again, he'd been out of school for so long, he forgot how quickly news and rumors travel.

The blonde girl turned back around and reassessed Lance with a long look. Then, she smiled and brushed her hair back out of her face. "Oooh, you're right," she replied, though she didn't look back at her friend. "Hi. So, what do we have to do to get you on a team?"

Lance laughed and leaned against the fence they were hanging out around. "I can't join sports teams, sorry," he said back with a shrug. "Besides, it's for the best. I'd only upstage everyone. It wouldn't be fair, the other kids deserve a chance to play."

"You're so… humble." Rachel replied dryly. In reality, she wanted him to leave her be, but she'd be the star of the school if she got just one of the new kids to start playing basketball. "You know, they'd probably make you captain if you joined."

"Yeah, they probably would. I am pretty great and all that." Lance shrugged. The thought of being an acclaimed captain intrigued him, but he knew they wouldn't be staying long anyway. He probably wouldn't even be around to see basketball season start.

The girl paused and looked back at her friend. They whispered back and forth for a few moments before she finally returned to Lance. "Well, if I can't convince you, maybe the rest of the team can? There's a party at the abandoned hospital next Friday."

Now, Lance was interested. "Abandoned hospital?" he asked, confused.

"Oh, that's right, you're new here," Rachel replied. "Yeah, there's this old hospital that got abandoned a long time ago, right outside of town. It's super sketchy, but it's also super cool and we throw parties there all the time. The whole basketball team will be there. Well, everyone from all the sports teams will be there. You should come."

Right before Lance could respond, he heard his name being called across the field. Keith was standing on the walkway next to parking lot and Shiro had pulled up to take them home. "Lance! Get your ass over here! Let's go!" he was shouting and Lance pouted before turning back to the girls.

"I gotta-"

"Yeah," Rachel smiled. "But will you come?"

"Sure! I'll try to get there."

"Oh yeah, and bring your friend too."

* * *

When Lance got back to the castle, he talked about the party, and it took a while for anyone to take him seriously because they thought he just wanted to go out. But, when he mentioned the abandoned hospital, Pidge perked up and brought up a map of where it was located.

"It was built for the scientists and military people who ran experiments out in the desert," she explained. "It was really only for them since they needed to be quite far outside of town to keep everything on the down-low. But, then the town started to expand and they got pushed further out to the desert, and the hospital was too far from the town, and also too far from where they moved to, to be useful anymore. So, they just left it. It's a popular party spot because it's technically outside the town's jurisdiction, so police don't drive by there often. Fun fact, the hospital had-"

Pidge was cut off by Allura gasping and all but shoving her out of the way for a closer look at where the hospital was located.

"What is it?" Shiro asked immediately, knowing she had seen something the others couldn't.

"I've been trying to track the Galra for weeks," she replied after a moment of intense study of the board. "And I've finally pinpointed a location but wasn't sure exactly where it was. But it's there, the Galra are at this… Hospital, you call it?"

The Paladins all found themselves in deep shock as they examined the board, as though it would suddenly broadcast all the Galra secrets to them. Of course, the board was as silent as the people surrounding it.

"So, there's going to be a party… at the Galra headquarters?" Hunk asked, looking extremely confused, and also very concerned.

"It looks like it," Keith replied. "I just wonder where they got the idea from."

"Like I said, there's been parties there for as long as I can remember," Pidge answered. "Even my brother went to some. The parties were there way before the Galra got here. But, I can see why the Galra would pick that as their base. It's just a matter of whether or not this party is an innocent coincidence."

Allura frowned deeply. "I've had my dealings with the Galra, and through all of it, nothing has ever been just a coincidence with them."

Shiro nodded. "There must be something more there." The Paladins fell silent, each lost in thought as they tried to figure out exactly what could be going on. Pidge herself was lost in her memories of her brother sneaking out of the house and returning late. She'd known then he was going to a school party, and he'd even confided in her as to where he went. She also knew that he believed he was fooling his parents, but they knew. But, since he was responsible enough, they didn't see the need to punish him for it.

"So…" Lance started, breaking the silence and glancing around the room. "Does this mean we get to get our party on?"

The Paladins and Allura looked over at him and then they turned their attention to Shiro, who would be the one making the final call. Although Lance was being cheeky, he had a point. If they were going to scout the Galra headquarters their best bet was going to be getting into that party, and Lance already had an invite.

Shiro sighed heavily. "Yes," he finally said. "It looks like it."


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long wait. I like to stay a chapter ahead while I'm writing and kind of dropped this story for a little bit because the FMA/RoyAi fandom consumed me! Sorry! I will finish this, though, I promise, even if it takes a while.
> 
> Anyway, here's some introspection! Enjoy!

The rest of the week went by in a blur, but with the party looming overhead, Pidge could hardly think of anything else. The whole exchange with Mulrig also bothered her, and when she saw Allie at school the next day, she made a beeline for her friend.

"Hey, Allie!" Pidge called, "How did that meeting with your mom and Mulrig go?" She tried her best to sound like a sympathetic friend but failed a little since she was so eager to hear what happened in the aftermath. Allie glanced up from her locker and smiled wearily at Pidge.

"Mom reamed me out," she sighed. "But she also seemed, like, really confused. It was weird."

"What do you mean?" Pidge asked as she casually leaned against the lockers.

"It didn't sound like her. It sounded like Mulrig, but with her voice. She used words and terms I've never heard her use when yelling at us before." Allie laughed a little, though it was forced. "And I've been yelled at by her a lot. But yeah, it was super weird. When I asked her about it this morning, she didn't even remember what happened." Allie shrugged and closed her locker once her books for the next class were in her arms. "Oh well, that means she forgot she grounded me."

Pidge smiled, trying to process all that Allie was saying while trying to seem normal. "Hey, that's a good thing at least," she said. "Does that mean you're going to go to that party on Friday?"

They had begun walking to class and Allie turned to look at her strangely. Pidge felt her face heat up and felt that maybe she had done something wrong. Maybe she was blowing her cover. Oh, if Shiro found out that her cover was blown, he'd never let her go on a mission by herself again. And then she'd have to deal with all the questions from her friends, and she was still sort of recovering from being hit and felt so tired.

"Sorry, I didn't know you paid attention to the parties," Allie said and Pidge let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "I was surprised you knew there was one. But yeah, I'm going."

"Oh, cool. Me too." Pidge said shortly, fearing that speaking anymore would cause her to sound unnatural.

Allie gave her another surprised look. "I thought you were going to lay low for a while. But hey, that's great! It'll be just like before; you, me Tiff, and Leah tearing up the dance floor! Are you sure you're gonna go?" Allie jokingly ribbed her in the side. "Don't get my hopes up!"

"No, no I'm going," Pidge replied with another fake laugh. She didn't recall ever really liking parties when she was a normal teenager. Then again, she'd often gone because her friends went, and while she wasn't much for parties, she loved hanging out with her friends. "Yeah, I was going to lay low, but I'm so tired from being back in school! I need a night to unwind."

"Ha! Don't we all?" Allie smiled at her friend and Pidge realized that there was a good chance her friend knew more about this party, and why it was being held at the abandoned hospital.

"So, uh," Pidge started, "Who's throwing this party?"

Allie shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Probably just the jock kids," she said. It was such an unimportant detail to her. A party was a party after all. "At least, I think so. They were the first to talk about it, I think. It's also kinda a weird time to have a party, you know. No big games, no dances, not close to graduation. But hey, sometimes you just gotta party, right?"

Pidge nodded and fell silent as the two girls reached the door. She smiled at her friend but Allie had a look in her eyes, like she wanted to say something more, but didn't know how to word it.

"Well, I'm glad we get to go to the party," Pidge finally said after a moment, feeling a little awkward, and struggling to find something to say.

"Hey, Katie?" Allie finally asked. "I know it's been awhile since you've been here, and I know a lot has changed, but you're still my girl. If you ever need to talk, let me know, okay? I don't know what you're going through, but I'll be your ear whenever you need me to be."

Pidge looked up at her old friend, feeling a swell of happiness and love fill her. In the year she had been a Paladin of Voltron, she rarely thought of her old friends, though she'd missed them a lot. Sure, after she enrolled in the Garrison, she had to cut contact, because Allie's mom worked there and if she was outed, she'd never get the information she needed about her dad and brother. But during those months that she had transformed from Katie to Pidge, she missed her girlfriends. She missed Easton, and she missed just being herself. Knowing that after all that nothing had changed in the eyes of her friend made Pidge happier than ever.

"Thanks, Allie," she said softly. "I really needed to hear that." The other girl smiled widely at her and the two friends walked into the classroom together.

* * *

The night of the party, Lance was hyped. It was a struggle to get him stop bouncing all over the castle, and it was also pretty tough to convince Keith not to kill him. But, even though he was being extra annoying, it was hard to blame him. High school parties were fun, and it had been quite some time since Lance had been to one.

Getting dressed, however, was another challenge altogether. Boys were easy, Lance and Keith just wore their usual outfits and they looked fine and ready to go. Hunk, who was going for backup, was also dressed in his usual outfit. But, Pidge was conflicted. If she showed up in her oversized sweatshirt and basketball shorts, she would look quite suspicious. But, the idea of donning a dress freaked her out. It was one thing to wear her old school uniform, but putting on an actual, real live dress, made her feel like she was slipping back into Katie.

As she sat debating in her room, she couldn't tell if that was necessarily a bad thing or not. Katie was a great girl. She was kind and funny, and smart. But, Pidge was also kind, and funny, and smart, and every day that Pidge continued to be, well, Pidge, she felt even further away from Katie. As she glanced at the old picture, she felt like she was looking at her brother and… someone else. It wasn't even like looking at a younger version of herself. She really, barely saw herself in the photo at all.

She hadn't realized when she joined the Garrison and later the Voltron team, that becoming Pidge also meant leaving Katie. Then again, perhaps it wasn't the Garrison that had changed her but instead losing her father and brother. Knowing that their disappearance was covered up, and having to become strong for both herself and her mother, changed her from the girl she had been.

It was with that thought that she realized, even if she had never joined the Garrison, and never became the Green Paladin, Katie Holt had disappeared when her father and brother did. Not sooner, not later.

But, there was a glimmer of hope as she briefly mourned the loss of herself. Pidge was a clean slate. Pidge had no history, no backstory, no baggage. That was her. She could go find her family, be a Paladin of Voltron, and just be… Pidge. And that was comforting in of itself.

So, she decided that she wasn't going to wear her sweatshirt and shorts, and she wasn't going to wear a dress. Instead, she changed into some blue jeans that fit her well, though were a little baggy, and a green and white shirt, not unlike the one she loved as a child.

"A little Katie, a little Pidge, but all me," she mumbled to herself as she gazed at her reflection. And just like that, Lance was shouting her name to get moving so they could go to the party.

She stepped out of her room, backpack over her shoulder, and walked down the dimly lit hall. Her backpack was full with her tech, her gear, and anything else she'd need if they managed to find an entrance to the Galtra HQ. Admittedly, she was a little nervous. Being shot scared her. She'd never been shot before, and the effects it had on her body really frightened her. Thankfully, the healing pods did their job, but what if it hadn't been just an arm? What if had been her stomach, or chest, or head? Even the most amazing technology had its limits, and so did Pidge. For one thing, she couldn't find her family if she was dead.

Pidge shook her head, trying to rid herself of the thoughts. Nothing was going to happen, she decided. Well, something was probably going to happen, but she had Lance, Keith, and Hunk, plush Shiro waiting in the wings and Coran and Allura back at base. She had her team. She'd be fine.

"Fucking finally," Lance groaned as he jumped up from the couch when Pidge came in. He started to run for the door, but Keith expertly stuck out a foot and tripped him. Kind? No. But, they had to discuss a plan first before Lance ran head first into what could potentially be a trap.

"You dick!" Lance glared.

"Shut up and let's talk about what we're doing before we go," Keith retorted and Lance reluctantly got back up on the couch.

"I hope there's good food at the party," Hunk said excitedly, ready for delicious earth food and excited to get out on the field. "You uh, don't think anything bad will happen, right?"

"We're not going there to party, guys, remember that," Shiro warned. "We have to keep our heads on straight. We could very well be walking into a trap. What we have to do is make sure that, if the Galra attack, everyone is gotten to safety. Keep communications at all times. If things go south, I'll be right in."

"What if we need to form Voltron?" Hunk asked.

"We can't."

"What do you mean we can't?" Hunk looked shocked. "How else do we defeat the Galra?" He turned to Keith to say, 'no offense' but the other boy gave him a strong look and for his safety, Hunk decided not to.

"If anyone finds out that we have those kinds of weapons, we'll be in trouble," Shiro said. "We'll have the United States Government coming after us for Voltron and we'll have to leave-with or without getting the Galra off Earth. And, if we leave as fugitives, we won't be able to come back."

That made the Paladins take pause. Lance looked stricken, Hunk looked scared, and Pidge looked upset. Keith appeared indifferent, but he didn't want to live in a world… the universe, where he wasn't able to return to the only planet he'd ever really known. Lance, Hunk, and Pidge wanted to see their families. Not coming back at some point was not an option to them.

"Alright," Pidge said. "Then we find another way. We're out in the desert. If they came in undetected, they can leave undetected."

"Exactly." Shiro agreed. "And we're just scouting everything out. We don't go crashing in anywhere unless there's clear and present danger, got it?" He loved his fellow Paladins, but Keith could be impulsive, Lance reckless, and Hunk sometimes reacted out of fear. Pidge, he was less worried about, but then again, something seemed different about her since she returned to Earth. He worried she was getting too close to her old friends and that would cloud her otherwise rational brain.

"I think we got it," Keith finally said after a long moment. The others nodded. Lance seemed more subdued now, and Shiro was grateful that he wasn't going to have to have another talk about how this was a mission, not a party for them. He wanted the team to have fun, and he planned to stay a few days after the mission was over, as long as nothing else came up. They deserved to see their families. They never got to say goodbye.

"Alright, then let's go." The Paladins checked in on Allura and Coran and made sure all the tech was working properly. Then, they all piled into the disguised escape pod and drove away from the castle.


End file.
